condensate pump and c-wire

9 years ago

Quick question (I hope). Our house is 5 years old and has Goodman furnace/central AC for each of the two zones. The basement furnace AC is hooked to a Little Giant condensate pump that has been failing (I already have the replacement, just haven't installed it yet). The pump only pumps condensate VERY slowly and often fills and trips the safety shut off (preventing AC from running until pump catches up). It can often sit for 30+ minutes trying to pump down enough to allow AC to turn back on. Each zone is controlled by an Emerson Sensi wifi thermostat. Very recently been having issues with the downstairs thermostat maintaining wifi connection. It's radio shuts off and their troubleshooting guide this could possible be due to C-wire issues. This setup has been flawless for almost 2 years until very recently. So, when condensate pump is in safety switch mode does it also cut power to the C-wire? I've checked the batteries on the Sensi and they are fine.

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Comments (4)

mike_home
9 years ago
We don't know how It is wired. It is likely the 24v (red wire) is being cut off. The battery probably does not power the Wifi receiver and may only keep settings from being lost in a power outage.
Greg Rodenhiser
Original Author
9 years ago
Wasn't sure if there was a standard way these get wired or not. At least it seems like this could be possibility. Went 24 hours with the AC off (and pump manually drained) and the thermostat stayed online with no issue. After the 24 hours I turned the AC back on and within hours the thermostat went offline. Presumably the pump is full again, I'm at work and will check when i get home. Going to put the new pump in service tonight I hope.
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Greg Rodenhiser
Original Author
9 years ago
D'oh calling a pro today. Last night was installing the new pump, very straightforward, while doing the connections for the safety shutoff I got a spark when connecting the first two wires and the furnace fan kicked on. Being distracted I had dumbly shut off the wrong breaker. The thermostat was off and nothing was running at the time (no heat/AC/fan), but it did have power. No no matter what the fan is now stuck on if there's power to the furnace. AC will not go. I've left the fan running for 20+ minutes still won't shut off. Obviously I borked something, any ideas? As mentioned this is not my wheelhouse and calling a pro, just wondering what I'm looking at here. Plus always cool to learn how some of this stuff works.
klem1
9 years ago
Everyone I supervised or advised over the years were told"half of knowing what you are doing is knowing when to leave it alone". As far as being cool to learn how some of this stuff works, a little knowledge is often more dangerous than non at all. Consider yourself luck you were not electrocuted and leave it to pros from now on.